Annealing apparatus



Dec. 25, 1928.l

H. v. LEcKlE ET AL ANNEALING APPARATUS Filed July 16, 1925 2 SheetS-Sheet l2 gimen/tofu Herb erf l/. L eck/'e Patented Dec. 25, 1928.V

n UNITED STA/rss PATENT oFFicE.

HERBERT V.l LECKIE AND SAMUEL A. NORTH, OF BRIDGEPORT, CONNECTICUT, AKS- SIGNORS TO REMINGTON ARMS COMPANY, INC., A CORPORATION 0F DELAWARE.A

Viiiaiviianrive. APPARATUS.

Application lled July 16, 1925. Serial N0. 44,011.

and make it brittle, it is necessary to anneal the tube one or moie times, between drawing operations, in order toprevent the tube becoming so hard that it will split either during or subsequent to the operations of drawing. A section of the case adjacent to its mouth or open end, is iin'ally drawn to a neck of reduced diameter to receive the bullet, the powder containing section ot the case for most riile cartridges being oi greater dian eter than the bullet receiving neck. The bullet inserted into theneck is of slightly greater diameter than the neck, and its iiisertion therein induces such stresses in the metal of the neck as to cause frequent splitting. Indeed such split necks' have in the past been a very common cause of defective ammunition. The defect is aggravated by the fact that it isimpossible to anticipate when splits will develop.

It has been the practice in the past to anncal shell cases by passing them between rows ot opposed burners.` The flames of such burners spread vertically on en counterin the shell case and each other withl theresifllt that the shoulder at the base of the neck is softened and weakened Vhen such weakened shoulder cases are struck by the iiring pin the case will upset, destroyingl the torce of the impact of the firing pin on the primer and causing the cartridge to misfire. The present invention contemplates a means and a method oi annealing cartridge cases or similar articles, whereby a definite line of demarcation between annealed and unannealed parts is secured, thereby providing that the metal will be hard'and resistant where this characteristic is required, and adjacent points will be soft enough to permit of stretching or other deformation without rupture.

In the drawings, Fig. 1 is a diagrammatic plan view of one form of machine by which the object of this invention is accomplished.

l Fig. 2 is a transverse section, substantially on the line 2--2 ofF ig. 1. Y

Fig. 8 is a ragmentary'side elevation of one form of burner.

Figs. 3 andb are respectively sections on the lines L -e and ZJ- of Fig. 3.

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the burner shown in F ig. 3.

' Fig. 4 is a section through a cartridge case annealed by the methods of the'present invention.

rIhe several parts of the machine to vbe de.- scribed are supported from a pedestal or base 10. In order to secure uniform and readih7 controllable heating of thesection of the cai:- ti'idge case or other tube to be annealed, the invention includes the provision ot means for rotating the cartridge cases and simultaneously moving them past suitable heatingdcvices. For this purpose a cartridge supporting, conveying and rotating member is provided, which may be in the forni o't' a screw conveyor. The conveyor device which has been illustrated, comprisesa shaft 11, provided with a wheel or pulley 12, whereby the shaft may be rotated. A spiral screwoi worm `18 surrounds lthe shaft 11 and is rigid therewith, the pitch of this screw being such that the cartridge cases may rest on the shaft 11 between adjacent turns of the screw. A longitudinal bar 14 furnishes a lateral sup- -poit for the cartridge cases in the conveyor screw. It will be seen that as the screw is rotated, cartridge cases resting thereon, between adjacent turns of the worin will be fed longitudinally of the screw and will be sin'iultaneously` rotated.

Adjacent to the Vconveyor screw, and located at a suitable height to direct a llame against the necks oi' the cartridge cases, is a single row or' burners 15, these burners being provided with tips capable of producing a flat, thin, laterally spreading llame. Any burner tip which iscapable otprodu'cing a thin, fiat llame may be utilized; one form of suchtip is illustrated in Figs. 8, 3 and 3*. In this tip, a restricted'central passage 16'in alignment with the outlet 17 is provided, and

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arcuate passages 18 and 19 of larger area approach the outlet from opposite directions, these passages being so arranged that the viluid streams passing therethrough are directed toward each other adjacent to the outlet opening, and are deflected outwardly through the outlet by the fluid jet through the central passa-gef 1G.

In prior cartridge case annealing machines, it has been customary to provide two sets ot burners directing flames against the opponitc sides of the cartridge cases, which were conveyed between such flames. In suoli a device, the vert-ical s} reading ot the llame is inevitable, and an accurate control et the area ot the shells annealed thereby is in'ipossible. ly providing means tor rotating the shells, as they are moved past a single line ot' flat flames, a very accurate control ot the area annealed is secured.

The sect-ion shown in Fig. e was prepared from a shell which had' been annealed in the machine described. v A very definite line is seen to se )crate the annealed and nnan nealed part ot the shell.

Any suitable means tor supporting the burners and conducting a combustible fluid thereto may be provided. ln the particular device illustrated, a mixture ot gas and air supplied to the burners Vl5 through the branch T 20, whicl'i" renner-ts with Ithe mixing tube 21 to which and air are supplied through the connectiil'ig` tubes Q2 and 23. Means are provided tor permitting an accurate vertical adjustmento't the burners. To this end the, burner'assembly may be mounted in supporting arms 2T?, giroted at 25 to ears extending upward 'from brackets 2G.V Rearward extensions 27 of the arms 9A are perforated to receive screws 25% which extend upward trom the bracket 27, and an adjusting nut 2E) and' a. spring 30 locate theV arms 27 on the screws 28. A line adjustment of the burners is thereby provided. Each ot' the brackets 26 is adjusta-bly supported troni the pedestal l() by means which may be constructed as follows. The downwardly en tending arm Q61 of each bracket- 2G is received in recessed support 3l on the base. Said arm 20L is perforated to receive the pin 32 which may be insert-ed througlfi any one ci" a plurality ot pert'orations in the support 8l.

Any suitable means may be provided 'tor feeding cartridge cases int-o the machine in proper relation to the conveyor screw. For example, cart-ridge cases may be contained in a hopper located above and adjacent to the annealing machine, and may pass through a tube Se to a position adjacent tothe conveyor screw. A suitable transversely moving plunger 35 may be connected through a linlr 36, eccentric 37 and gea-rs 38 and 39 to the shaft 1l, the plunger 35 being tlins recipro- Lacasse cated during each rotation ot the shaft ll, a cartridge case is moved thereby over the shaft 11 and into the screw 13, which at this point is ot reduced diameter. A second screw 4.0 may be placed substantially in alignment with the .supporting bar 14# to snpporttlie side ot the cartridge cases as they are received on theshatt il, and move thein, into engagement with the supporting bar lil. Having traversed the conveyor screw, the cartridge cases may be received in a suitable device, such as a chiite al, having an extending guiding Wing piece l2 which, with the last turn ot the worin 13 guides thecases into the chut-e.

Theeinbodiment et the invention shown and described is to be understood to be illustrative rather than restrictive, the invention being limited only by a broad construction of the appended claims.

7e claim:

l. ln a cart-ridge case annealing machine, a screw conve-yor adapted to translate and sin'niltaneously rotate cartridge cases, and heating means adjacent to said conveyor adapted to heat a c etlnite section only ot said cart-ridgecases.

2. ln a cartridge case annealing machine, a screw conveyor adapted to translate and simultaneously rotate a cartridge case, heating means adjacent to said conveyor adapted to heat a delinite section only ot said cart-ridge cases, and means for adjusting said heating means to select` the section ot' the cartridge cases'to be heated thereby.

3. In a cart-ridge case annealing` machine, in combination, a conveyor adapted to siinnltaneonsiy translate and rotate cartridge cases, a bar for laterally supporting the cartridge cases in said conveyor, and a cartridge case feeding screw in alignment with said supporting bar, and adapted to inove cartridge cases into engagement therewith.

d. In a cartridge annealing machine, a screw conveyor adapted to receive cartridge cases in radial posit-ions between adjacent. threads thereof, the thread ot' said screw conveyor adjacent one end thereot being ot reduced diameter, a cartridge case supporting and feeding worm located adjacent said end ot' said screw, and cooperating with said thread ot reduced diameter to move the eartridge cases into engagement. with the fullV 'diameter threads oit said screw, and means iter transferring cart-ridge cases from said delivering means into engagement with said Y worin and said reduced diameter thread.

iinnnnnr v.v Lncitin. SAMUEL il. nonni. 

